Do payslips have to show hours worked?

Only hours that are paid on a time-worked basis. An hourly-paid or day-rate worker's payslip must show all hours paid. A salaried employee with paid overtime only needs the overtime hours. A salaried worker with no variable pay doesn't need hours at all. Hours can be one total or split by rate.

Are electronic payslips legal?

Yes. Employers can choose printed or electronic payslips. Official guidance says an electronic payslip must be in a form the worker can print, and Acas says employers should give another format, such as paper, to anyone who can't access them online.

When must I receive my payslip?

On or before payday. Acas recommends employers send payslips before payday where possible, so there's time to fix errors. The right starts from the first payday, with no qualifying period.

Do zero-hours and agency workers get payslips?

Yes. Since 6 April 2019, all workers, not just employees, have the right to an itemised payslip, including zero-hours workers and casual staff. Agency workers get theirs from the agency that pays them. The self-employed don't get payslips.

What can I do if my employer doesn't give me a payslip?

Raise it with your employer or payroll team, then use a formal grievance if needed. If that fails, you can claim to an employment tribunal. The tribunal can declare what the payslip should have shown and order the employer to repay deductions that weren't shown in the 13 weeks before your claim.

HR, payroll & employment

What Must Be on a Payslip in the UK (2026): The Legal Checklist

What must be on a UK payslip in 2026: gross and net pay, deductions, hours for variable pay, electronic payslips, fixed-deduction statements and tribunal remedies.

Edited by Sumeet YadavFounder & editor, MSMETOOLS · fact-checked against official sources

Updated October 2026 Verified against official sources 12 October 2026 15 min read

What must be on a payslip in the UK — MSMETOOLS guide cover

Contents (11)

1. Who has the right to a payslip
2. What must be on a payslip: the legal minimum
3. Hours on payslips when pay varies
4. Fixed deductions and the standing statement
5. Electronic payslips
6. Worked example: a compliant monthly payslip
7. Showing different types of pay
8. Checking your own payslip
9. What happens if a payslip is missing or wrong
10. Common payslip mistakes
11. What to do next

Every employer in the UK must give each employee and worker an itemised payslip on or before payday. The law sets out what it has to contain, and since April 2019 that includes the hours paid for anyone whose pay varies with the time they work. This guide is for small employers setting up payroll and for staff checking whether their payslip is complete. It covers the legal minimum, the hours rule with worked cases, fixed deductions, electronic payslips, what happens if a payslip is missing or wrong, and a worked monthly payslip for 2026.

Quick answer

A UK payslip must show gross pay, net pay, the amount and purpose of each variable deduction (tax, National Insurance, student loan, pension), each fixed deduction unless it's in a separate standing statement, how net pay is split if paid in more than one way, and the hours paid for where pay varies with time worked. It must arrive on or before payday, on paper or electronically.

Applies to all workers, including zero-hours and casual staff, since 6 April 2019
Salaried staff with overtime: show the overtime hours only
A standing statement of fixed deductions lasts up to 12 months
Tax code, NI number and employer name are good practice, not legal requirements
Tribunals can order repayment of unnotified deductions from the last 13 weeks

Who has the right to a payslip

The right comes from section 8 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, which calls a payslip an "itemised pay statement". Until April 2019 it covered only employees. Two amending orders made in 2018 extended it to all workers and added the hours requirement, for pay periods starting on or after 6 April 2019.

That means the right covers:

employees on permanent, fixed-term, part-time and full-time contracts;
workers on zero-hours or casual arrangements, who aren't employees but meet the legal definition of a worker;
agency workers, who get their payslip from the agency that pays them rather than the business they're placed with;
students, apprentices and anyone else on your payroll.

There's no qualifying period: the right starts from the first payday. A few groups are excluded by law, including the police service, the armed forces, merchant seafarers and share fishermen paid from a vessel's profits or gross earnings, although in practice most of them get payslips through their own arrangements. The self-employed don't get payslips because they handle their own tax.

Even someone you only pay once needs a statement. HMRC says that for a one-off payment you give the person a payslip or a letter showing pay before and after deductions and the payment date.

A diary page with payday written on the first of the month next to pound coins, banknotes and a calculator — The payslip must reach the worker on or before payday, and Acas suggests sending it earlier so errors can be fixed in time.· Image: One Click Group UK (Flickr) (CC BY 2.0)

What must be on a payslip: the legal minimum

Section 8, as amended, sets out the items in every pay statement. The table below lists them alongside the items employers usually add but that the law doesn't require.

Item	Required by law?	Notes
Gross pay	Yes	Total pay before any deductions
Each variable deduction and its purpose	Yes	Income Tax, National Insurance, student and postgraduate loans, pension contributions, attachment of earnings orders
Each fixed deduction and its purpose	Yes, unless covered by a standing statement	For example union subscriptions, season ticket loan repayments, regular charity giving
Net pay	Yes	Total after all deductions
Split of net pay by payment method	Yes, if paid more than one way	For example £1,500 by bank transfer and £100 in cash
Hours paid for, where pay varies with time worked	Yes, since 6 April 2019	One total, or split by type of work or rate
Pay period and payment date	Good practice	Needed to show which period the hours relate to
Tax code and NI number	Good practice	Helps the employee spot an emergency code or wrong number
Employer name, payroll ID, year-to-date totals	Good practice	Year-to-date figures make the P60 easier to check
Holiday balance, pension employer contribution	Good practice	Often requested; not legally required

A deduction is "variable" when its amount can change from one payday to the next, and "fixed" when it's the same each time. The distinction matters only because fixed deductions can be moved to a separate standing statement, as explained below.

Showing a deduction on a payslip doesn't make it lawful. Deductions must also be required by law (tax, National Insurance, student loans, court orders), allowed by the contract, or agreed in writing in advance. Retail employers can't take more than 10% of gross pay in a pay period to cover cash or stock shortfalls, except from final pay. Our National Minimum Wage guide explains which deductions can take pay below the minimum.

Hours on payslips when pay varies

The hours rule is the part most employers get wrong. Where a worker's pay varies with the amount of time they work, the payslip must show the number of hours being paid for on that basis. Hours that don't change the pay don't have to appear, although you can include them.

The government's guidance works through several cases, which we've summarised:

Do the hours need to be on the payslip?

Worker	Pay arrangement	Hours to show
Salaried, no overtime	Same salary each month regardless of hours	None
Salaried with paid overtime	Fixed salary plus overtime at an hourly rate	Only the overtime hours, for example 6 hours
Hourly-paid	Paid for each hour worked	All hours paid, as one total or split by rate
Hourly with enhanced rates	Higher rate for bank holidays or nights	All hours; can be split, for example 17 at normal rate and 8 at time and a half
Term-time worker on equal instalments	Same monthly pay all year	None
Day-rate worker	Paid per day worked	Hours worked, even though pay is by the day
Salaried, unpaid leave taken	Pay reduced for 10 days off	None; the reduction is a departure from normal pay, not time-varying pay
Hourly-paid, on SSP for part of the month	Paid by the hour plus Statutory Sick Pay	The hours actually worked and paid

Salaried, no overtime

Pay arrangement: Same salary each month regardless of hours
Hours to show: None

Salaried with paid overtime

Pay arrangement: Fixed salary plus overtime at an hourly rate
Hours to show: Only the overtime hours, for example 6 hours

Hourly-paid

Pay arrangement: Paid for each hour worked
Hours to show: All hours paid, as one total or split by rate

Hourly with enhanced rates

Pay arrangement: Higher rate for bank holidays or nights
Hours to show: All hours; can be split, for example 17 at normal rate and 8 at time and a half

Term-time worker on equal instalments

Pay arrangement: Same monthly pay all year
Hours to show: None

Day-rate worker

Pay arrangement: Paid per day worked
Hours to show: Hours worked, even though pay is by the day

Salaried, unpaid leave taken

Pay arrangement: Pay reduced for 10 days off
Hours to show: None; the reduction is a departure from normal pay, not time-varying pay

Hourly-paid, on SSP for part of the month

Pay arrangement: Paid by the hour plus Statutory Sick Pay
Hours to show: The hours actually worked and paid

The hours must be clearly linked to the pay period they were worked in. If overtime worked in September is paid in October, show which period it relates to. The hours shown for payslip purposes aren't necessarily the same as the hours counted for National Minimum Wage checks, which follow their own rules on things like travel and training time, though for hourly-paid staff they'll often match.

If you pay irregular-hours or part-year workers rolled-up holiday pay at 12.07% of their pay, which has been allowed for leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024, government guidance says it should be clearly marked as a separate item on each payslip. See our holiday entitlement guide for how it works.

Fixed deductions and the standing statement

Instead of listing every fixed deduction on each payslip, an employer can give a separate "standing statement of fixed deductions". It sets out the amount of each fixed deduction, what it's for, and how often it's made. The payslip then shows only the total of the fixed deductions.

Acas says a standing statement is valid for up to 12 months. It must be reissued at least once a year, and earlier if a fixed deduction changes. GOV.UK says the statement has to go out before the first payslip it applies to. In practice, payroll software lists every deduction on the payslip anyway, so standing statements are mainly used by employers with paper payrolls or very long lists of small deductions.

Black and white photo of clerks working at a payroll machine in a 1950s company payroll department — The standing statement dates from paper payroll days; today most software simply itemises every deduction on the payslip.· Image: Kheel Center, Cornell University Library (Flickr) (CC BY 2.0)

Electronic payslips

Employers can choose printed or electronic payslips, and most now use email or an online portal. The government's guidance says a payslip may be physical or electronic as long as the worker can print it. Acas adds that if an employee can't access payslips online, the employer should provide them in another format, such as paper.

A few practical points make electronic payslips work. Give staff access from their first payday, not after a probation period. Make sure leavers can still reach their final payslips and their P60 or P45, either by keeping their portal access open or by sending copies. Password-protect emailed PDFs. Keep the payroll data itself for at least 3 years after the end of the tax year for HMRC, and pay and hours records for 6 years for minimum wage purposes.

Worked example: a compliant monthly payslip

Jo works in a care home, paid £12.71 an hour for every hour worked. In October 2026 Jo worked 150 hours, is a member of the workplace pension under a net pay arrangement at 5% of qualifying earnings, pays £15 a month in union subscriptions through payroll, and has tax code 1257L. The payslip would look like this:

Payslip line	Amount	Why it's there
Hours paid: 150 at the National Living Wage	£1,906.50	Required: Jo's pay varies with hours worked
Gross pay	£1,906.50	Required
Pension (5% of pay above £520 a month)	−£69.33	Variable deduction
Income Tax (code 1257L)	−£157.78	Variable deduction, on pay after pension
National Insurance	−£68.68	Variable deduction: 8% of pay above £1,048
Union subscription	−£15.00	Fixed deduction (or covered by a standing statement)
Net pay	£1,595.71	Required
Paid by bank transfer	£1,595.71	Split only required if more than one method

The tax figure assumes Jo has earned the same each month since April, so the cumulative calculation gives one-twelfth of the allowance each month; it's (£1,837.17 − £1,048.25) × 20%. Real payroll software uses HMRC's tables, so the pennies may differ. If Jo were salaried at the same monthly amount with no variable hours, the "hours paid" line wouldn't be legally required. If Jo did 6 hours of paid overtime on top of a salary, only those 6 hours would need to appear.

The employer's pension contribution and employer National Insurance don't have to be on the payslip, because they aren't deducted from Jo's pay. Many employers show the employer pension contribution anyway, because it helps staff see the value of the scheme. Our auto-enrolment guide covers the contribution rules.

Build a payslip line by lineFree, no login: add hours, deductions and year-to-date totals.

Showing different types of pay

The law requires gross pay as a single figure, but it doesn't require each element of pay on its own line. In practice, splitting pay into its parts is what makes a payslip readable and protects the employer if there's a dispute. Most payroll software separates basic pay, overtime, bonus, commission, holiday pay and statutory payments automatically.

Statutory payments are the ones worth showing separately. When someone is off sick, a line for Statutory Sick Pay shows they've received what the law requires; since April 2026 SSP is payable from the first day of sickness, so it appears on far more payslips than it used to. The same goes for statutory maternity, paternity, adoption and neonatal care pay. These amounts also appear in the statutory payments boxes on the employee's P60 at the end of the year, so clear payslip lines make the P60 easier to check.

Salary sacrifice needs care. Under a sacrifice arrangement, the employee gives up part of their salary in return for a benefit such as extra pension contributions or a cycle to work scheme. The sacrificed amount isn't a deduction; it reduces gross pay. Showing the contractual salary, the sacrifice and the reduced gross pay as separate lines avoids confusion, especially when checking the result against the minimum wage, which a sacrifice can't take pay below.

Benefits in kind taxed through payroll are similar. The value of a payrolled benefit is added to taxable pay so that tax is collected on it, but it isn't paid in cash. Payslips usually show it as a notional line that increases taxable pay without increasing net pay. From April 2027, more employers will see these lines, because company cars, fuel, vans and medical cover move into payroll.

A two-minute payslip check

Step 1

Tax code

Step 2

NI number

Step 3

Student loan plan

matches SLC account

Step 4

Pension contribution

Step 5

Hours × rate

at least minimum wage

Step 6

Year-to-date totals

Checking your own payslip

If you're an employee, a quick check each payday catches most problems early. Start with the tax code: 1257L is the standard code for 2026-27, and a code ending in W1, M1 or X, or codes such as BR or 0T, often mean HMRC hasn't yet matched you to your previous job. Check that your National Insurance number is right, because contributions recorded under the wrong number may not count towards your State Pension.

Then check the deductions you'd expect. If you have a student loan, make sure the plan type matches the one on your Student Loans Company account. If you were auto-enrolled into a pension, confirm that the contribution appears and that you can see it arriving in your pension account. If you're paid by the hour, multiply your hours by your hourly rate and compare it with gross pay, and check that the result is at least the minimum wage for your age.

Finally, compare the year-to-date figures with the previous payslip. Year-to-date pay and tax should rise steadily; a sudden jump or fall usually means a correction, a back-payment or a code change. Keep every payslip until you've received your P60 for the year, and longer if you might need to show your income to a lender or claim a tax refund.

If something looks wrong, ask payroll before payday if you can. An error caught early is usually corrected on the next pay run, while one found after the tax year ends may need an amended submission to HMRC and a replacement P60.

What happens if a payslip is missing or wrong

If a payslip doesn't arrive, or leaves out something the law requires, the worker should first raise it informally with their manager or payroll team. If that doesn't work, they can raise a formal grievance. The final step is a claim to an employment tribunal.

The tribunal's powers are specific. It can declare that the employer failed to give a payslip and set out what it should have contained. If deductions were made without being shown on a payslip, it can order the employer to repay the total of those unnotified deductions made in the 13 weeks before the claim, even if the employer was otherwise entitled to make them. That's a real cost for employers who deduct for uniforms, breakages or loans without itemising them.

This is separate from a claim for unlawful deductions from wages or underpayment of the minimum wage, which have their own remedies. Missing hours on a payslip can also make it harder for an employer to show it has paid the minimum wage. Since 7 April 2026, minimum wage enforcement has sat with the Fair Work Agency, with HMRC compliance officers still carrying out the investigations. The Acas helpline on 0300 123 1100 is free for both employers and workers.

Payslip compliance check for employers

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Common payslip mistakes

Leaving out hours for overtime. A salaried employee who's paid overtime must have the overtime hours shown. Showing only the overtime amount isn't enough.

Grouping deductions. A single "deductions" line, or "other deductions", doesn't meet the requirement to show each deduction and what it's for.

Holding payslips back. Some employers only release payslips after probation or in batches. The right applies from the first payday.

Forgetting casual staff. Staff paid through petty cash or as occasional helpers are still workers on payroll, and they're entitled to a payslip like anyone else.

Assuming online access. If someone can't use your portal, give them a paper or emailed copy.

Official links

What to do next

Check one recent payslip for each type of worker you employ (salaried, salaried with overtime, hourly) against the checklist above, and fix your payroll template if anything's missing. If you're setting up payroll for the first time, register as an employer and use the salary slip generator to draft a compliant layout. For the rules behind each deduction, see the student loan deductions and Statutory Sick Pay guides.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice — confirm on the official source or with a professional.

Frequently asked questions

Gross pay before deductions, net pay after deductions, the amount and purpose of each variable deduction such as tax, National Insurance, student loan and pension, each fixed deduction (unless covered by a standing statement), how the net pay is split if it's paid in more than one way, and the hours paid for when pay varies with time worked.

Sources & verification

Figures on this page were checked against the sources below when it was last reviewed on 12 October 2026. Each rate and limit is stored once with its own official source and review date, and official update channels are monitored daily so changes are picked up. How we verify

1.Payslips: employee rights — GOV.UK · accessed 12 October 2026
2.Payslips: guidance on legislation in force from April 2019 — Department for Business and Trade · accessed 12 October 2026
3.Payslips — Acas · accessed 12 October 2026
4.Understanding your pay: deductions from your pay — GOV.UK · accessed 12 October 2026
5.Holiday pay and entitlement reforms from 1 January 2024 — Department for Business and Trade · accessed 12 October 2026
6.Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027 — HMRC / GOV.UK · accessed 12 October 2026
7.Tell HMRC about a new employee (employees you only pay once) — HMRC / GOV.UK · accessed 12 October 2026
8.New laws in force relating to itemised pay statements — RPC (law firm) · accessed 12 October 2026

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We provide tools, guides and information for general educational purposes only. Always refer to official government websites for the latest and most accurate information.